Stand strong

An education in campus assault

Brooklyn: Betsy DeVos’s rejection of Obama-era Title IX regulations is entirely ignorant of the reality of sexual violence on college campuses (“Toward justice on campus,” Sept. 8).

While DeVos claims that current protections are unfair toward the accused, her actions reinforce the reason why victims rarely report attacks. As reflected in her own decision, the justice system is inherently skeptical of women who accuse men of sexual assault.

The extensive stigma women face for speaking out deters many from coming forward at all, making new measures to protect the accused not only unnecessary, but wholly reductive. The implication that victims fabricate narratives just to slander men ignores how difficult it is for women to be taken seriously when reporting these traumatic incidents. This administration’s normalization of sexual violence and degradation of women is repulsive.

As a teenage girl preparing to go away to college next fall, I’m scared. Shannon Sommers

Head of the class

Brooklyn: Overbooked Advanced Placement classes are a frequent problem in my high school. Here’s a suggested solution: Determine who in the class has the most interest in staying there and working hard to do well. Select students to stay in the class based on merit, using their grades from previous years. These students would more likely be willing to work hard to do well in the advanced classes as they have in the past to earn the grades that they have. That being said, I do not think it is fair to bar all students from taking an advanced class simply because they have not excelled in past classes. A possible solution could be to make a grade cutoff to stay in the class, and everyone who does that meet that cutoff would have to write an essay to demonstrate interest in the class. Ideally, those who aren’t motivated enough to write the essay would be moved to a standard class and those who are interested will remain in the advanced class. Eirene Fithian

Homes and schools

Manhattan: Human Resources Administration Commissioner Steven Banks has taken a tremendous step to ensure that no child, no matter their circumstance, is denied access to education (“Class act, city,” Sept. 8). However, if these children are to be truly successful, then we must also provide them with stability outside of the classroom. No child should leave school only to face the stress and uncertainty of a shelter. Every child is entitled to the safety and security of their own home. If we are to end child homelessness, then we must also invest in their parents. When formerly homeless parents are given the resources to secure a stable job and affordable housing, their children reap the benefits. This holistic approach is the only way that we can break the vicious cycle of poverty and make sure that no child is deprived of the opportunity to thrive. George T. McDonald, founder and president, the Doe Fund

Worst ever

Brooklyn: Crime is at its lowest point, even lower than under law-and-order Rudy Giuliani, universal pre-K established (the issue he ran on), city services functioning at least as well as under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, unlawful stop-and-frisk is ended, unemployment is the lowest in years, tourism is booming, etc. Yep, de Blasio must be doing a terrible job. Herman Kolender

Meet the new boss

Brooklyn: On Tuesday the mayor won a lopsided primary that 86% of the party-eligible stayed away from. At his victory celebration he declared, “I do not accept the status quo in this town.” He is the staus quo! The 74%-15% margin makes that clear. Our future: four more years of status quo pay-to-play. Schellie Hagan

Tunnel vision

Brooklyn: As I sit in a tunnel on the Q train between stations, late for work, I think to myself: “If only Sal Albanese had focused totally on the subway service, he would have done so much better against de Blasio.” Nathan Thompson

Hitting the bars

Southington, Conn.: Kudos to Judge Kiyo Matsumoto for revoking bail for that Pharma Bro piece of garbage. Money can’t buy class or brains, of which he has neither. Jail is where he belongs, but it should be Rikers instead. Helen Henkel

Politics play-by-play

Yonkers: Curt Schilling was fired by ESPN for commenting on political issues. Apparently ESPN doesn’t want to hear their sports personalities discussing politics off the air as well as on the air, because people watch ESPN for sports not politics. Wrong. ESPN doesn’t want on-air personalities to discuss right-wing political views, but progressive politics are acceptable to this sports network. Jemele Hill is the latest on-air personality to use her position as a sports anchor to express her liberal views. Is ESPN racist because white sports anchors do not have this forum to express different views? Michael Guerin

C’mon, Carron

Pottsville, Pa.: Why do columns by Carron J. Phillips appear in the sports section? He never writes about sports, only about what he perceives from his narrow perspective as social injustices. We get it, Carron. Donald Trump is Satan personified, Colin Kaepernick’s a god, everyone’s racist. Now write about sports for a change. Mike Kiehner

No defense for offenses

Brooklyn: Voicer Beverly Cooke took great pains to repudiate remarks made by Jemele Hill of ESPN. Many have called for Hill to be fired for her tweets regarding the bigotry of Donald Trump. However, even the Daily News has reported on Thursday that Trump, while he was starring on a NBC reality show, referred to President Obama as a racist. During the Obama administration, Obama and his wife, Michelle, were often the targets of racist, mean and deplorable statements by those that had corporate sponsors. One of the papers in New York, which is (in my opinion) not even worth reading, once ran a cartoon depicting the President of the U.S. as a monkey. Where was your indignation then? Teroy R. Jenkins

A parade to remember

Bronx: For as long as I can remember, from the time I was a child, attending the African-American Day parade was customary to my upbringing. I’m wondering why the Daily News covers or advertises every other nationality’s parades, yet this coming 48th annual event, which will take place on Sunday in Harlem, does not get recognized. As an avid reader of the Daily News, I am disappointed at the lack of coverage of this important cultural event. Let’s fix this. Octavia Richardson

It’s the climate, stupid

Brooklyn: In light of the recent two monstrous hurricanes that devastated the Texas coast and Florida, it is mind-boggling that more people are not talking about the obvious causes. For decades now, climate scientists have been predicting extreme weather events related to climate change. Their predictions are playing out, much to the suffering of millions of people. In the meantime, our President and the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency continue to perpetuate the lie that there is no problem with the climate. Anyone concerned about the welfare of future generations and the fate of the Earth should be demanding that leaders move to support renewable sources of energy and curtail the use of carbon-based fuels. Irwin Cantos

Here’s what happened

Rockaway Point: So Hillary Clinton wrote a book titled “What Happened.” No need to buy the book and make her richer. The country did not want her as President. She lost, end of story. It’s sad that Democrats will read her book. Give me a break. Regina Mangan

Cut it out

Manhattan: To Voicer Hyman Auslander: You state that God ordered circumcision for the eighth day, something having to do with Vitamin K. Are you saying the uncircumcised don’t produce Vitamin K? There is no evidence for that. There is no evidence that God wrote a book. There is no evidence that anything written by an uneducated and mostly illiterate desert tribe in an age before science has any validity. For that matter, there is no evidence that there is, or was, a God. What there is scientific evidence for is that some babies whose penises are bitten get herpes from the procedure. The chosen ones indeed. Full disclosure: My family was Jewish and I am circumcised. Stephen Baker

Cancel!

Trenton: Now that the Daily News has new owners, perhaps they will remove that dreadful comic strip “Between the Lines.” Ade McCullum